250km/h Copenhagen-Stockholm rail by 2022?

The Swedish rail operator plans more fast trains between Stockholm, Malmö and Copenhagen.

Rising demand for land travel between the Nordic capitals is putting pressure on the Swedish rail operator SJ to increase its train traffic between Malmö and Stockholm as well as Malmö and Copenhagen.

Malmö and Stockholm are “two major dynamic areas that are growing enormously and more and more people travel between the regions”, SJ business chief Petter Essén tells Sydsvenskan, a daily newspaper for the Skåne region.

The company wants to give its fast X2000 trains a facelift while at the same time boosting the number of seats on the route by 50%.

One more weekday departure on the Stockholm-Malmö line could start next year, while the number of Malmö-Copenhagen trains could rise to seven a day.

High speed
It also plans to invest in new high-speed trains that can travel up to 250 kilometres per hour, to be put in operation on the Copenhagen-Malmö-Stockholm line in 2022.

It is questionable, however, if the existing tracks could take such speeds, The Local speculates. Trains have already been forced to slow down because of cracks in the rails and other maintenance issues.

Nevertheless, Essén tells Sydsvenskan: “We’re buying these trains to be prepared, because as soon as there’s an opportunity to drive faster on the railway we are ready.”